TWO auction records have been shattered, after a Las Vegas guru sold a baseball card for four MILLION dollars.
Sports gambling consultant Dave “Vegas Dave” Oancea had purchased the Mike Trout baseball card for 400,000 dollars in 2018, and sold it for $3.936 million on Saturday night.
3The rookie card was bought by Dave “Vegas Dave” Oancea in 2018 for $400,000, and has been sold for $4 MILLIONCredit: Goldin Auctions
3Oancea reportedly predicted that the Mike Trout card would sell for a mint when he originally bought itCredit: Getty Images – Getty
“Everybody laughed at me and said I was stupid for (buying) a piece of cardboard,” Oancea said to the Las Vegas Review Journal.
“I made a video when I bought it, saying that this would be the most expensive card in the world, that it would break the record, that it would hit 4 or 5 million one day.”
The signed 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects Superfractor rookie card of the Angels outfielder is a one-of-a-kind item.
The value of the card comes from its pristine condition. Beckett, a company which estimates the value of sports cards, gave it a stellar 9 out of 10 rating, and the signature an astounding 10 out of 10 rating, bringing the card’s total rating to a whopping 9.5 out of 10.
its sale price dwarfed the previous record holder – a $3.12 million Honus Wagner tobacco card sold in 2016.
The card’s price tag also won it the title of most expensive modern-day card sold, winning out over a Lebron James basketball card that went for $1.8 million in July 2020, according to nj.com.
The buyer, who purchased the card at Goldin Auctions in Texas, has not revealed his identity.
Joe Maddon, manager for the Angels, told the Los Angeles Times that he was shocked by the card’s sale price.
“I’m into art. That puts him right up there with, what did the ‘Mona Lisa’ sell for? What does anything by da Vinci sell for?” Maddon said.
“That’s pretty phenomenal. It’s absolutely astounding.”
3Angels manager Joe Maddon was shocked at the card’s valueCredit: AP:Associated Press
Oancea commented on the massive payout, gleeful at the lack of work required on his part.
“I just flipped a piece of cardboard for 3.6 million dollars in 24 months which required no manual labor,” he said.
“That’s more money than each of my critics will ever make working a 9-to-5 for 40 hours a week for 40 years for a boss they don’t like even like.”